


Teach Me

by Fancy_Ravenclaw



Category: All Time Low, Bandom, jalex - Fandom
Genre: Hand Jobs, M/M, Teacher AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2014-09-19
Packaged: 2018-02-18 00:30:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2328671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fancy_Ravenclaw/pseuds/Fancy_Ravenclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After just a few days of teaching the new math teacher, Alex Gaskarth, is sure he's not as good at it as he thought. But then there's the music teacher, who is determined to help Alex with that problem and maybe get something out of it along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Teach Me

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to [Faith](http://blinkinglights-dialtones.tumblr.com) for proofreading this for me!

“Hello everyone, I am your new math teacher, Mr. Gaskarth.”  
As soon as he’d said it the entire class grinned to themselves. A tall, lanky, young guy with a streak of pink in his dark brown hair wasn’t going to be much trouble to them. Katie Parker had seen him walk into the building that morning, laptop bag swung over his bony shoulder, looking around trying to estimate how bad it was going to be. She’d seen everyone look at him curiously and him trying to avoid their stares.  
He wasn’t gonna last long, she was sure of it.  
“How old are you even? 12?” Luke Evans, star linebacker and at least 6’5. Mr. Gaskarth would soon learn to not mess with him. “I'm 23,” Mr. Gaskarth replied. He looked like he was about to collapse under the weight of the stares.  
“You look a bit like Mr. Barakat,” Sam Henderson observed. “Who?” He looked so lost, Katie was starting to pity him. “The music teacher. Jack Barakat. He has a blonde streak in his hair. You must have seen him, sir.” “No, no. I don’t think I know who you’re talking about. Okay kids, let's do an introduction round, shall we?”  
Katie gave him 4 weeks.

“First day?”  
“That obvious eh?” Two classes into the year and he was already tired, great start. He put his bag down on one of the chairs and sat down, head in his hands. “You must be Mr. Gaskarth, ‘That one new math teacher, sir, you know who I mean’.” Alex looked up to see who’d spoken to him. A guy who matched Sam’s description of Mr. Barakat was looking down at him, “Yeah, I’m that new math guy.”  
“Mind if I sit down?”  
“Not at all.”  
Jack shamelessly moved Alex’s bag from the chair next to him to the table and sat down, “They tortured you pretty well, or so I heard.” “Don’t know what I expected, really. I’m young, skinny and have a stupid pink streak in my hair. My appearance isn’t what you’d call respect enforcing.”  
“Do I look respect enforcing to you?” Alex looked Jack up and down. He was probably even taller and skinnier than Alex himself and he had a blonde streak in his dark hair. “Be strict. Give them rules. That’s how it works. They tried fucking with me on my first day. I just showed them that I do not put up with their macho bullshit.”  
“I’m sure it’ll get better eventually," Alex tried.  
“They’re just testing your boundaries.”

\------ 

Alex had never been this embarrassed in his entire life, he felt like he could just die right there and then. Just a few moments before one of the kids on the front row had shot a piece of chewed gum at him from a blowpipe. It was currently stuck in the pink of his hair and the laughter of the students was ringing in his ears. Trying to hide his trembling hands and watering eyes, he turned around, waiting for the confidence to start flowing through him, but it didn’t come. This was not what they’d prepared him for at school. This was not something he knew how to handle. “Class dismissed.” He said softly. He heard the kids zip up their bags, their excited voices and their footsteps pounding towards the door. It felt like their feet were trampling him, trying to mash him into the floor.  
How he wished he could actually sink into that floor.

He was scared to go into the teachers’ lounge. Actual fear was coursing through his veins. Would they laugh at him? ‘Oh hey it’s that inexperienced new kid?’ ‘look, the new guy got taught a lesson!’ ‘he really can’t stand his ground!’ But he couldn’t bear to stand in the hallway any longer, felt the stares of the students lingering on the back of his head.  
He slowly pushed the door open and walked in.  
He’d pulled a beanie out of his bag and was wearing it forced down low on his head, hoping no one would notice the gum in his hair. The lounge was empty, apart from Jack, who was standing at the water cooler in the back of the room. The older boy turned around when he heard the door close behind Alex, and he smiled when he saw him. “Hey man, how did it go?”  
Alex shrugged.

“Talk to me.” He pointed at the table for two next to the water cooler and signalled for Alex to sit down. As soon as they were seated opposite each other Alex pulled off the beanie. “That happened. I dismissed them.”  
“You dismissed them?”  
“I didn’t know what to do!” Alex exclaimed defensively.  
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Calm down. It’s still fresh. We can get it out.” Jack got up and walked to the little kitchen area, pulling open some of the cupboards till he found what he was looking for. He held it up in the air triumphantly.  
A comb.

He made his way back over to Alex and went to stand behind him. “Hold still.” He forced Alex’s head back a bit so that he could easily reach the pink area and carefully put the comb behind the piece of gum. “This might hurt.” He warned. “Take it like a man, Gaskarth.”  
But it didn’t sound nasty, and the joke calmed Alex down. The getting-the-gum-out part was more painful than Jack had made it out to be, it felt like Jack was just pulling out his hair, strand by strand. Fortunately no one came into the lounge as it was happening, or they’d have heard Alex’s small squeaks of pain and disapproval, and Jack’s soothing murmurs in response.  
“That’s it. It’s out. I’m just gonna throw this comb in the trash. If someone asks where the comb’s gone, you know nothing.”  
“I know nothing,” Alex repeated, smile on his face.  
He wasn’t sure if he was smiling of relief or because of Jack’s joke.

“So, one word to summarize your first week?” Jack asked as him and Alex left the teachers’ lounge at 4 pm that Friday.  
“Death," Alex replied.  
“Well, well.”  
“It was horrible, honestly. I don’t think I’ve taught those kids anything in the past week.”  
“That’s a highly realistic thought.”  
“Thanks.”  
“How about we go out for coffee?”  
“Now?”  
“Yeah, why not?”  
“Okay.”  
It wasn’t like Alex had someone at home waiting for him; he’d lived alone ever since he moved out of his parents’ house after high school.  
“Starbucks?” Jack suggested.  
“Sure.”  
“You have a car somewhere here?”  
“No, I take the bus.”  
“Excellent.”  
“Hello sir.” A pretty senior girl walked by and gave Jack a suggestive smile.  
“Hello Ella.”  
“My name is Emma,” The girl replied, looking hurt.  
“Right.” Jack nodded as he continued walking.  
The two boys walked quietly for a minute, until Jack broke their silence, “I know her name’s Emma.”

 ------

“A soy, half-caf, iced cinnamon dolce latte please.”  
“Sure, what’s the name?”  
“Alex.”  
“Coming right up.”  
“Thanks.”  
“A soy, half-caf, iced cinnamon dolce latte, could you possibly get any more stereotypical white girl?” Jack chuckled at him as they walked towards one of the tables.  
“I’m not wearing Uggs,” Alex noted.  
“I am buying you Uggs.”  
“Please don’t.”

“You know Alex, you need to learn how to stand up for yourself.”  
“Tell me about it.” Alex dropped his head, strands of hair immediately sliding down.  
“Let me teach you.”  
“About what?”  
“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?”  
“Yeah, yes. I am.”  
“I’m gonna teach you to stand up for yourself.”  
“How are you planning on doing that?”  
“I’ll think of something.”  
Alex just sighed, “I can deal with not being able to handle them, it’s just the fact that I know that they’re laughing at me behind my back.” Jack gave him a sympathetic smile, “All students make fun of their teachers behind their backs. I am 110% sure that they make fun of me too.”  
“Yeah, but you also have girls trying to get you in their beds.”  
Jack laughed, “You will too. You’re a young, cute guy. Trust me. Girls will be hitting on you in no time.”  
Alex stopped listening after “cute”, the word bouncing around in his head like it could just jump out at any given moment, and he was pretty sure he was bright red.

“Getting shy now, are we?” Jack seemed pleased with himself.  
“Am not.”  
“Are too.”  
“Am not.”  
“Next Friday. My house.”  
“Am.. What?”  
“You heard me. No excuses. You’re coming home with me after school next Friday.”  
“For the standing up for myself thing?”  
“Yep.”  
“What if I had something planned?”  
“Not to sound mean or anything, but you didn't.”  
“Gee, thanks.”  
“No problem dude.”

\------ 

“On a scale of Hartnell to Tennant, how much did you improve this week?”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Are you picking up what I’m putting down?”  
“What the fuck are you on about?”  
“Wow sir! Foul language!” A kid yelled from across the hall.  
“Keep walking, Geralds,” Jack warned. “Doctors, Alexander. They’re Doctors.”  
“Doctors.” Alex repeated.  
“Yes, Doctors. As in Doctor Who?” And when Alex looked at him with a confused expression he shook his head and added: “Seems like there’s more I need to teach you than just how to stand up for yourself.”

It was Friday afternoon, 4 PM, and the two men were on their way to Jack’s car. Alex had had nervous butterflies in his stomach the entire day and he was constantly making sure Jack wouldn’t see that his hands were trembling.

“You scared of dogs?”  
“No. You have one?”  
“Yep. Swiss Shepherd.”  
“What’s its name?”  
“Flyzik. He’s really sweet, no worries.”  
As soon as Jack pushed the door open a gigantic white dog jumped outside, while barking excitedly. “Hey Fly.” Jack greeted, stroking its head. Flyzik stopped jumping around Jack and walked up to Alex, sniffing at him. “You coming?” Jack asked, stepping inside. “Yeah.” Alex petted the dog and followed after Jack. As Jack made tea for the both of them, Alex got down on his knees to cuddle with the dog, who seemed very excited about Alex’ existence.

“Sugar?”  
“No thanks.”  
“Alright Alex, let's talk about detention.”  
“My absolute favourite subject. Continue.”  
“Very funny. Okay, I understand that you are hesitant to give out detention. But next class, when someone does something annoying, warn them once. If they do it again, give them detention. Doesn’t matter what they did, as long as it’s disruptive.”  
“Why would I do that?”  
“Because they’ll realize that you do give out detention. They won’t be as annoying in fear of getting detention.” Jack explained patiently. Flyzik had positioned himself down under the table at their feet and nudged at Alex’ ankles with his nose, wanting to be petted.  
“Promise?” Jack added.  
“Yeah. Okay.”  
“Okay.”

The hours flew by as they sat, drank tea and just chatted. Neither of them noticed it getting dark outside or it starting to rain. They were only awaked from their conversation, which was about bands at that moment, when the first lightening of the night striked and they could hear the thunder bashing through the dark sky.  
“Shit, what time is it?”  
Jack turned around to look at the small clock on the kitchen counter, “Almost one.” He replied.  
“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say there’s no more buses around this hour.”  
“Correct. More tea?”  
“Jack.”  
“What?”  
Alex sighed, “Yeah, okay. More tea.”  
“Let's move to the living room. You go ahead, I’ll get us some more tea.”  
“Of course.” Alex rolled his eyes.

He wasn’t sure if this was Jack’s way of inviting him to stay over for the night or if he just didn’t feel like thinking of a way to get Alex home.  
Flyzik followed him to the living room and Alex sat down on the floor to give it the attention it wanted. In the kitchen it had been barely audible, but here in the living room he could hear the rain jamming against the windows clearly. The occasional bolt of lightening followed by the loud sound of thunder lit up the room momentarily, giving Alex the opportunity to quickly look around and take in the setup of the small living room. There were two couches, both facing the fire place with the TV above it. In the corner lay what Alex assumed was Flyzik’s sleeping place, with a small mattress and a bunch of blankets. Magazines were scattered over the glass coffee table and the walls were covered in posters advertising about ten different bands.  
The rhythm of stroking the dog, quickly glancing around whenever the room got lit up for a few seconds and counting the seconds between the lightening and the thunder, combined with the soothing rattling of the rain against the windows made Alex sleepy, and he lay down, the dog immediately lying down next to him.  
When Jack walked into the living room with two mugs of hot tea and a plate of cookies in his hands, he found Alex lying on the floor with Flyzik’s head on his chest, both sound asleep.

When Alex walked into the school building on Monday he was practically glowing.  
He had to repress the urge to start whistling the happiest song he could possibly think of, and he was pretty sure that the giant smile on his face was scaring the students. The past weekend could pretty much be counted as one of the best of his life.  
He’d woken up on the couch in Jack’s living room with a blanket draped over his skinny body. Jack was lying on his back on the other couch, with his white dog asleep on his torso and his blanket only covering his feet.

Jack had taken him out for breakfast at McDonalds and insisted on paying his breakfast for him because “Alex was the guest and hosts were to provide their guests with food”.  
They’d spent the day walking around town and visiting shops without buying anything. Jack constantly made fun of some of the obnoxious pieces of clothing on the mannequins, making Alex laugh until his stomach and cheeks ached. The day flew by and before they knew it it was half seven and they were seated beside the window of a fancy Greek place (which Jack insisted on paying for too).  
They didn’t go out on the second day – the rain wouldn’t stop pouring from the sky – so they stayed in the living room, playing videogames and watching cheesy movies with overdone superheroes and annoying damsels in distress. They ordered pizza and ate it on the couch with the Xbox controllers in their now greasy hands.

Jack had given him a ride to school that morning, but they had parted ways in the parking lot because Jack had to go see the principal which required taking another entrance than Alex.  
He hadn’t really thought about it all weekend, but the nerves about having to give out detention were starting to kick in now that he was on his way to the classroom. He walked past some of the students who were in his class first period and wondered who the unfortunate ones would be.

“Good morning class, I hope you all had a great weekend. Now if you would please open your notebooks on the pages with your homework so that I can check it.” He walked past the rows of students, taking notes of who did their homework and who didn’t on his clipboard.  
“Right,” he said when he walked back to the front of the class, “Today I’m gonna start out by explaining some of the major points of this paragraph, and after that you can all work on your homework.” While explaining something about quadratic equations, he kept an eye out for any disturbances from students. The first came after eleven minutes (he was definitely not counting how long he could go without being interrupted. Definitely not.) Luke Evans started trying to chat up a girl sat at the back of the room, and some of the kids in the surrounding area seemed annoyed by their chatter.

“Mr. Evans, if you could keep your mouth shut please; don’t make me warn you again.” Alex said, surprised by how steady his voice sounded. Luke rolled his eyes at him.  
“Or what, Mr. Gaskarth?” The last part was said in a mocking tone and Alex concentrated on not blushing when he said: “Last warning. Another word from you and you got yourself detention.” He knew his voice was shaking at this point, but apparently he got the point across anyway, because the students exchanged some impressed looks.  
However, Luke seemed too dumb to take the threat seriously, as he immediately continued his conversation with the girl when Alex turned back around to face the blackboard. With his back still facing the class, Alex gathered courage and managed to say: “Evans, you’ve got yourself detention. This afternoon from 2 to 4. No football practise for you and if you could please remove yourself from this classroom, that would be much appreciated.” Luke didn’t seem to have expected that, “Seriously?” He choked out. “This is my serious face, yes.” Alex replied firmly. His hand clutched the marker to stop himself from trembling and he managed to keep his calm pretty well while watching Luke pack his bag and leave the room. The other students started whispering to each other, glancing up at Alex every now and again. With the last bit of courage he could bring up he called their attention back to the blackboard and continued his lesson.

“You are the best.”  
“I know.” The other man replied without knowing why Alex had seemingly randomly announced this.  
“I gave Luke Evans detention during first period. No one else bothered me at all. No one!” Alex exclaimed.  
“I’m proud of you. So did he say anything about missing football practise?” Alex grinned widely, “No. I went: ‘You’ve got detention, so no football practise and leave my classroom.’” “Ah, strict and clear. I taught you well, my young pupil.” Jack patted his head playfully.  
“So...” Alex started as they sat down at their regular table by the water cooler, “You busy tonight?” Jack raised his eyebrows and leaned forward over the table, “Nothing I can’t cancel. Continue.”  
“How about I take you out to Chipotle then?”  
“Yeah, okay. On one condition though.” Alex gave him a questioning look. “We’re not calling it a friendly dinner this time. It’s gonna be a date.” Alex had no idea what the appropriate reply to that was. What did this mean? Did Jack have a crush on him? He hadn’t been on a date since high school, and back then they were all dates with girls. He’d never been on a date with a boy. In college he’d stopped dating, as he realised that he didn’t want to be with a girl; but he’d also been too insecure to officialy come out. He’d come out to his parents in his sophomore year, but only a few of his friends knew beside them.  
Jack’s patient “Are you still with me?” woke him from his thoughts. “Yes. Yeah. I’m here. We’re- yeah. Okay.” Jack chuckled, “Sorry, did I make you shy?” Alex laughed back, “Little bit. But okay, it’s a date then.”  
“Congrats to the happy couple, but fourth period started five minutes ago.” The teacher at the water cooler interrupted.  
Alex and Jack shot each other an alarmed look; both burst out laughing and started running towards their classroom.

“I should be grading the kids’ performances today.” Jack announced cheerfully as he picked Alex up outside of his apartment. Alex couldn’t help but laugh, “I heard it from one of my students. You made them sing. Lets just say Violet Thames was not amused.”  
Jack started the car, “I know. I could hardly even hear her over the sound of her friend singing. Might just fail her.” He quickly took his eyes off the road to glance over at Alex, “Hey, might want to buckle up. We want to get there in one piece.”  
Alex looked down, “Oh right.” The first thing he did on this date was forgetting to fasten his seatbelt, great thinking there; he thought to himself as he did what he was told. He’d been nervous over this date for a few hours now, but now that he was actually sitting beside Jack and now that they were just chatting about random stuff that didn’t really matter, he finally relaxed. He’d expected to have to focus on the date the entire time, completely think through all possible replies to the words he said, but it wasn’t like that. The words flowed out of his mouth easily and he hardly even thought about what Jack thought of him, as Jack didn’t seem to think anything of him. Well, of course he liked him. After all they were on a date. But Jack didn’t seem to judge every word Alex said like he’d expected. He knew it was just his nerves and insecurity speaking when he thought of Jack not liking or judging him, but he still couldn’t help but worry.

Jack pulled into an empty parking space on the parking lot behind Chipotle. From the front the building looked impressive with its brightly lit logo and the busy people behind the windows, from the back though, not so much.  
It only occured to Alex that this was his first real date when he was sat at one of the tables in the back with his date sitting in front of him. “I want to marry this burrito.” He exclaimed without thinking after he’d swallowed his first bite.  
Jack laughed, “That’s not a great thing to say on a date with someone that’s not your burrito.”  
“Polygamy.” Alex simply said.  
“Take it slow, sweetheart. This is only our first date.”  
“Technically the past weekend was our first date.”  
“Second date then,” Jack said, “How’s your burrito?”  
“Well, given the fact that I just said that I wanted to marry it, I obviously like it a lot.”  
“You know, after a date people usually say something like ‘let’s do this again very soon’, but I’m going to say it right in the middle of this date. Let’s do this again very soon.”  
“I’m totally up for that. Also, had I mentioned that I absolutely love your shirt?”  
“You had not.” Jack replied, “Yours isn’t bad either. You might want to put your burrito down, by the way. That sauce over there is about to spill on your glamourous shirt.”  
Alex blushed and quickly put his food down, “I am a mess.” He announced.  
“You are.”

The flow of the conversation didn’t leave them all night. They kept on talking and talking until they’d been sitting in the same spot with their empty plates in front of them for over an hour.  
The first silence of the night occured when they were walking back to Jack’s car at ten to ten that night. The headlights of the car flashed for a second when Jack unlocked it, and Alex opened the door to the passenger’s seat.

“Friday.” Jack’s words came out of nowhere and made Alex stop what he was doing to look up.  
“What?”  
“Friday. Come over to my house on Friday, I’ll make you dinner.”  
“Sure.” Alex replied. He sat down and closed the cardoor, “You seem to just assume that I’ve never got plans.”  
“That’s because you’re not proving me wrong.”

\------

10 minutes to go until the last bell.  
Alex finished grading the test he had in front of him to quickly glance over to the class full of students. After the whole Luke Evans thing no one in this class had tried to make much of a scene anymore. Even Luke himself had seemed to have gotten the point and had kept his head down.  
Alex let them softly speak to each other, but as soon as they got too loud he’d tell them off. For the first time since he’d started this job he felt like he could breathe when teaching. He didn’t feel the urge to either keep talking for the entire hour so that at least he felt like he was doing something, or let them work on their homework whilst sitting quietly at his desk pretending to not be there. He could actually teach the way he wanted to and it was everything he’d wished for.

He only had three other classes, and in only one of them had the kids really tested him. The other two had mostly left him alone, apart from a few small disturbances which he had quickly shut down.  
The one other class that had tried testing his boundaries had proven itself to be a bit harder to deal with than the first. He’d given the Luke Evans of the class detention, but it hadn’t done much; the students hadn’t seemed impressed at all.

So he’d tried another strategy and did something that some of his teachers in high school used to do: he put the troublemakers in the front of the class.  
He put them all by themselves with no one around to talk to. That strategy, plus two students in detention, had made the class calm down and stop trying to test him.  
In that class was also his first “Teacher’s Girl”, as Jack liked to call them; the girls who tried to seduce their male teachers into giving them good grades. Alex wished he could just tell them straight to their face that he wasn’t into sixteen year old girls with big words and small brains, but unfortunately he couldn’t do that. So he settled for the occasional “Please don’t call me Alex. It’s Mr. Gaskarth to you.” So far she hadn’t understood the clear hint that he was simply not interested.

Rosie was her name.  
Blonde hair, brown eyes, freckles, and the dream of every boy on the football team. Not just because of her looks, but also because she’d sleep with anyone who was at least mildly attractive.  
She was sat in the back of the class, beside the boy Alex assumed was her most recent boyfriend, whose name was Kyle. Alex wasn’t dumb enough to assume that they were doing work; he knew very well that they were just doodling and chatting, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care enough to correct them today.  
Today was his dinner date with Jack, and if he was honest with himself, he’d say that he didn’t care about anything or anyone else that day. As long as the kids kept quiet he’d let them do what they wanted, there was always time for a serious class on Monday.  
When the bell rang Alex was faster to get up than most of the students. He shoved the tests in his bag and quickly swung it over his shoulder.  
“Don’t forget to do your homework for Monday,” he reminded the class absentmindedly.  
He opened the door and waited impatiently for them all to leave the room. The tired and worn out faces passed him one by one, and only a few of them bothered to tell him to have a nice weekend (Rosie, of course, being one of them.)

\------

He couldn’t care less about seeming overeager when he arrived at the teachers’ lounge a minute after the bell. It was completely empty, and when he closed the door behind him the only thing still making noise was the coffeemaker on the counter.  
No time for coffee today, he told himself.  
He got himself a cup of water and stood by the water cooler, waiting for Jack to finish packing his bag and walking to the lounge.  
Mr. Waters, another math teacher, walked in a few minutes after the bell and filled a mug with coffee. “You’re here early? You got a pretty lady waiting for you?”  
“Something like that, yeah.” Alex replied.  
“When I was younger I hardly had time to date,” Mr. Waters said, “I found my wife at my work! Wouldn’t know how I’d have found a wife any other way.”  
Alex nodded. He wasn’t really paying attention to what the old man was saying, but he was assuming that it was some kind of story that he wouldn’t have cared about anyway, even if he hadn’t had a date coming up.

His hands nervously toyed with the plastic cup. He didn’t fancy actually drinking the water, he just wanted to occupy himself whilst he waited. He knew it was stupid to wonder what was taking Jack so long, firstly because the other was in no way obligated to hurry up for their date, and secondly because Jack wasn’t actually late; Alex had just been outrageously quick in his hurry to get to the lounge.  
Jack finally showed up after a four minute wait, with his backpack hanging off his left elbow and a guitar in his right hand. Alex hadn’t thought he’d hurried, but he currently looked like he’d ran here all the way from the auditorium.  
“Can I ask why you’re carrying a guitar?” Alex asked as he poured the water in the sink and threw the cup in the trash.  
“Yes, yes you can,” Jack replied. He put the guitar to lean against the counter and made use of his newly free hand by properly putting his backpack on his back and then sorting out his hair. “I found this beauty at a thrift store last night. Isn’t she pretty?”  
Alex raised his eyebrows, “Yeah sure, but why exactly have you taken it with you to the lounge?”  
“I wanted to show you, but I’d put it in the auditorium so I had to run all the way from my classroom to the auditorium and then to the lounge, all after the bell. So don’t think I wasn’t in a hurry to get here; I pretty much just ran a marathon in four minutes for you.”  
“That’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Mr. Waters gave Alex a grin as they headed towards the door. “Good luck.” He mouthed.  
Alex chuckled and nodded, “Thanks.” He mouthed back.  
“So, what’s for dinner?” Alex asked when he caught up with Jack.  
“How much are you expecting?”  
“I don’t deem you a cooking princess to be honest.”  
“Well, you won’t be too disappointed then.”  
“So what are you cooking?”  
“Mac and cheese. My cooking skills don’t go much further than that, I’m afraid.”  
“Mac and cheese is fine. I love mac and cheese.” Alex had to try his hardest not to laugh.

“And I’ve got homemade ice cream.”  
“You can make ice cream yourself?”  
“That’s not what I said.”  
“Then what did you say?”  
“Just that it’s homemade. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s homemade by me.”  
“You live alone. Who else could’ve possibly made it?”  
Jack was quiet for a moment before replying in a defensive tone, “She was visiting my sister anyway, so she decided to drop by mine as well. I didn’t ask her to come and make ice cream for my date or anything. She just suggested it.”  
“What? Who?”  
Jack rolled his eyes. “My mom.”  
Alex couldn’t help but laugh, “Your mom made ice cream for our date.”  
Jack blushed and punched his shoulder playfully, “She was like: ‘So what are you up to?’ and I was like: ‘Oh, you know. Work and stuff. I’ve got a date tomorrow.’ And then she wanted to know all about you and our date and she said: ‘You should make ice cream, like I taught you.’ And I was like, ‘I always pretended to listen to your explaining, the only reason I agreed to let you teach me was because it would earn me ice cream.’ And then she rolled her eyes at me and made us ice cream herself.” Jack explained, using an unnecessary amount of excessive hand gestures.  
“When did she come over?”  
“On Wednesday.”  
“So Wednesday night you had your mom make ice cream for your date, Thursday night you went to a thrift store and bought a guitar and Friday night you’re going to be having mac and cheese with your date?”  
“Yep.”  
“Your life is so exciting. It could be a sitcom.”  
“Yeah, a comedy where you can laugh at the main character’s pathetic life.”  
“More like a romcom then.”  
“You are the cutest.”  
The two put their bags in the backseat of the car and before Alex could reach over to open the car door to the passenger seat, Jack had already grabbed the handle and was now holding the door open for Alex.  
“What a fine gentleman you are.”  
“Why yes, my mother taught me well.”  
“Maybe she taught you manners well, but her ability to teach you how to make ice cream leaves room for improvement.”  
“I’ll tell her that next time she comes over, you jerk.”

\------

“Aren’t you taking your bag?”  
Jack looked over to the trunk, “Nah,” He replied, holding up the guitar in his right hand, “I don’t need school books over the weekend. This guitar, however, I do need.”  
“How often do you buy new guitars?”  
Jack just laughed. He closed the trunk and lead the way to the front door.

Flyzik was there waiting for him, just like last time. He jumped up and down and barked excitedly. “Fly, down.” Jack ordered as him and Alex walked into the hallway.  
The dog lied down but proceeded to repeatedly slam his tail against the black tiles before Jack whistled and he jumped up to follow after his owner.

“Put your bag down there, I’m going to answer your question.”  
Alex raised his eyebrows at him, but obeyed and dropped his bag onto the floor underneath the staircase.  
“Okay, follow me.” Jack easily ran up the stairs, taking two steps at the time while Alex tried to keep up with him.  
When he caught up, Jack was standing beside one of the doors in the small hallway. “Beware, my spare room.”  
Alex nodded slowly, but Jack didn’t open the door. Alex gave him a questioning look and Jack replied by smiling broadly, “Are you ready for the answer to your question?”  
“Which question?” Alex asked.  
Jack sighed, “The ‘How often do you buy new guitars’ one.”  
“Oh. Okay. Yes, I’m ready for the answer.”  
“Good. Mentally prepare yourself then.” Jack swung the door open, revealing a room full of guitars.  
They were everywhere. The walls were covered in electric guitars and there was only a small stripe of floor visible; the rest of the floor was taken by another few dozen guitars. They were all in different colours, sizes, styles and brands, and Alex wasn’t sure if he should even enter the room, afraid to accidentally touch one.  
Jack looked at him expectantly, the broad smile still on his face, “What do you think?”  
“I- how many…?”  
“78.”  
“You own 78 guitars.” Alex repeated.  
Jack nodded, “Yeah. I get guitars for every birthday, every Christmas, every everything, basically. Above that I also buy guitars at thrift stores and markets and stuff. Most of them are second hand, as I prefer those. I don’t like perfect guitars, I like them better when they looked like they’ve been used and loved by their former owner, as I can impossibly play all of them and make 78 new guitars look like they’ve been used a lot.”

Jack walked into the room and without even having to look for one, he pulled a guitar stand out from between a bunch of guitars. He put his new guitar on the stand and nodded at it appreciatively. “Look how well she fits in.”  
“You’re starting to worry me now.” Alex replied, still standing in the doorway.  
Jack motioned for him to come into the room. “So what do you think?”  
“I think you own a shit ton of guitars and I’m very impressed.”  
Jack nodded like he approved of Alex’s answer.  
“Do you know all of them by heart? Would you notice if one of them went missing?”  
“Probably not at first, but if I realized that there were only 77 here, I’d figure out which one was missing.”  
“This one is gorgeous.” Alex suddenly said, pointing at an acoustic guitar in the corner of the room. It was a black one, with a string of flowers next to the strings. There was something scribbled in red marker below the sound hole, but Alex couldn’t quite make out what it said.

Jack put a hand on Alex’s shoulder and nodded, “You’ve got a great taste in guitars. When I was younger I had a guitar teacher called Mark. He was my teacher for nine years and we became good friends during that time. When he retired he held this supposed-to-be small scale concert for all of his students, but so many of his old students showed up that they ended up getting rid of all the chairs and just standing up. He told me that he wanted me to play with six others, his ‘most talented students of all time’, and afterwards he gave me this guitar, as a thank you.” He carefully picked it up and held it in his hands, giving Alex the chance to try and figure out what it said in red marker. “I cried.” Jack added to his story, making the both of them laugh.  
“That’s his autograph.” Jack said upon noticing Alex looking at it.  
“Wow.”  
“I’ve never played it. I’m waiting for the right moment.”  
Alex nodded thoughtfully, “It looks like it’s saying that it’s only to be used for special moments.”  
“It does.” Jack agreed.

“So I’ll admit that I haven’t thought this date out very well.”  
“And that means?”  
“That means that I still have to make the mac and cheese and I’m not sure what to do with you while I do that.”  
“Well I can help.”  
“But I said I’d make you dinner.”  
“Yeah, but you didn’t say I couldn’t help you make me dinner.”  
“Do you want to help?”  
“Sure. Don’t expect too much from me though, I’m about -4% Gordon Ramsey.”  
“So am I. I’ve got a recipe though, if we just follow that we’ll be fine.”  
“And if not, we’ll at least have had a romantic cooking experience together.”  
Jack laughed, “Yeah, failing at making mac and cheese is so romantic.”  
As soon as they walked into the kitchen Jack pulled open a drawer, “I got something which’ll make the cooking more romantic though.” He was holding up a bag of tea lights and gave Alex a triumphant look.  
“What time is it?”  
“It’s like four thirty.”  
“How long does it take to make mac and cheese?”  
“The recipe says it’ll take about fifty minutes, but I’m going to be realistic and say it’s about an hour and fifteen minutes.”  
“If we don’t accidentally set the kitchen on fire, that is.” Alex added.

\------ 

“Nice ice cream. Your mom’s a good cook,” Alex commented, scraping his spoon around the white bowl to finish his serving.  
“Thanks. I’ll tell her.”  
“So, any plans for tonight?”  
“Well I was going to put on a romantic movie, but given the fact that your Doctor Who knowledge doesn’t extend beyond ‘yeah it’s a thing’, it sounds like we should watch that instead.”  
“I’m up for it.”  
“Are you into scary stuff?”  
“Little bit. Not too scary though, horror isn’t my thing.”  
“Well, you better brace yourself, because the episodes I’m planning on watching with you are pretty fucking scary, I nearly shat myself.”  
“Oh God.”  
“There’s a zombie child.”  
“No.”  
“Yep. Very terrifying. It’s very fittingly called ‘The Empty Child’.”  
“Jesus Christ. Can’t we watch some soppy romantic movie?”  
“Maybe afterwards.”  
“Are you pulling that move on me where you hope I’ll get scared and cuddle into you?”  
“Wouldn’t be an unpleasant effect, but not my main intention.”

Alex rolled his eyes, “Let’s play twenty questions.”  
“Alright. Favorite color?”  
“Green? Favorite food?”  
“Spaghetti. Favorite movie?”  
“The Fifth Element. If you could have a super power, what would it be?”  
“Flying. Nice taste in movies. Worst habit?”  
“God, where do I start? I don’t know, I zone out a lot, I guess. When did you lose your virginity?”  
Jack laughed and wiggled his eyebrows, “When I was sixteen. And the zoning out thing is cute. You haven’t zoned out with me yet, though. Am I just that interesting?”  
“You’re very interesting, don’t you worry. What would you name your kid?”  
“Owen? I like Owen. Favorite band?”  
“Blink. Favorite drink?”  
“Capri Sun. I’m out of questions. Got anything you desperately wanted to ask me?”  
Alex laughed and shook his head, “Nope, I’m all out as well.”  
“I’ll go put away the dishes and then put on Doctor Who then. You go cuddle Fly or something.”  
“Yes, sir.” Alex got up and walked toward the couch, where Flyzik was lying spread out over the pillows. His ears shot up as soon as he noticed Alex walking towards him. His tail swatted against the armrest and Alex stroked his head with a smile on his features.

“Hey boy, you been having a good night? Yeah? Have you had dinner yet? Has Jack just forgotten about you? Aw, how rude is he. How rude.”  
“Who you calling rude, Gaskarth?” Jack shouted from the kitchen. Alex laughed, “You.” He shouted back.  
“Ouch. What did I do to deserve that?”  
“You didn’t feed Flyzik.”  
“He’s got food here in the kitchen, if he wants some. He’s a free dog, I’m not gonna tell him what to do.”  
“You hear that, Fly?” Flyzik tilted his head by hearing the sound of his name, “Yeah, your food’s just in the kitchen. Isn’t that great, dude? You can just go get it.”  
The dog, however, seemed to be in no hurry to get to the kitchen and stayed right where he was, making sure Alex couldn’t fit next to him.  
“You gonna move so that I can sit too?”  
Flyzik just looked at him and then proceeded to try and lick Alex’s hand that was still on his head.  
“You don’t get to lick me when you’re being annoying.”  
“That’s what she said.” Jack’s voice came from the kitchen.  
“Not to you.” Alex replied.  
“I prefer when boys say that to me.”  
“God, Jack.”  
“Don’t act like I just said something really disturbing, I’m literally on a date with a guy right this very moment, it’s not like you didn’t know I liked guys already.”  
“You better like guys, if not I better just leave.”

“Want some tea?”  
“Love some.” Alex turned back to the dog and pointed to nowhere in particular, “Look at that, Fly. Look at that. Go have a sniff. Isn’t that what dogs do? Sniff everything? Look, that looks like something very sniffable, go, come on.”  
Flyzik put his head down onto his paws in response and Alex sighed, giving up and sitting on the armrest.  
“Are we seriously going to let my dog lay on the couch while we sit on the armrests?”  
“I don’t know, it’s your dog. Teach him some discipline.”  
“Watch me,” Jack said. He put the cups down on the coffee table and bowed down a bit, slapping his knees softly, “Hey, Flyzik. Come here. Come to your master. Come on. You want to cuddle? Come here, mate.”  
Flyzik’s ears shot up and he jumped off the couch, wagging his tail excitedly.  
“See, that’s how you handle dogs.” He patted Flyzik’s head and sat down on the couch, Alex slipping next to him.

“Now, if you get scared, you can come and cuddle me.”  
“If you’re trying to get someone in your bed the least you could do is not tell them your ways beforehand.”  
“Well, I know you’re not gonna end up in bed with me if you’re not planning to, so I can try whatever I want and it won’t work. So I’ll just settle for some cuddling.”  
“You could just ask me, you know. You don’t have to scare the shit out of me in order to get me to cuddle.”  
“Really? You don’t seem like the cuddly type.”  
“What does the cuddly type look like then?”  
Jack nodded slowly, “Fair point.” Then reached out his arm, inviting Alex to come and sit in his arms, which Alex happily did.

The episode was quite scary, but Alex forced himself not to look away, trying to at least keep up his cool facade, even though he knew it was not use with Jack. The sequel episode was a little less scary and Alex relaxed against Jack, resting his head on the other’s shoulder.  
By the time they finished watching the second episode it was nearly half ten and Alex wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be heading home or if he was invited to stay the night. The latter was more probable, knowing Jack.  
“You tired?” Jack asked when he noticed Alex starting to get uneasy.  
“No, I just- I. I wasn’t sure if, like, you were expecting me to go home?”  
“No, of course not. You’re staying here.” Pause. “If you want to, that is.”  
“Yeah, yeah. Sure, I’d love to stay.”  
“Good. Now, you wanna watch a romantic movie?”  
“What are the options?”  
“The Notebook, Titanic and Love Actually. I’m pretty sure that’s it. I don’t own that many romantic movies.”  
“Any will do.”  
“How about Home Alone?”  
“That’s not a romantic movie,” Alex stated.  
“No, but let’s be real, that movie is rad.”  
Alex laughed at his choice of words, “Yeah, okay. First movie, I hope?”  
“Of course, I’m not making you watch the fourth one or anything. I wouldn’t do that to you.”  
“You are very merciful, dear master.”

“Happy midnight.”  
“Sh, I’m already half asleep.”

Alex hadn’t been this comfortable in months, maybe years. Curled up on the couch next to Jack, with Jack’s arm around him and his body keeping him warm. Flyzik was lying at their feet. Every now and then the dog would get up to aimlessly walk around the living room, but he always came back to resume his position in front of the couch.  
Jack had offered to get them a blanket and even though Alex would’ve liked one, he was way too comfortable and warm to let the other get up.

During the emotional reuniting of Kevin McAllister and his mom Jack suddenly looked down at him. He’d done that a few times during the movie too; he’d look at Alex with this fond expression on his face, adoring the smile on Alex’s face when one of the criminals in the movie did something stupid. This time it was different though; he didn’t revert his eyes back to the screen, but kept looking at Alex until he looked up. They made eye contact and Alex felt the moment set off butterflies in his stomach. He knew what was coming. He knew what was about to happen.

He hadn’t kissed anyone in a few years, but he hoped it was like riding a bicycle. So when Jack leaned in, giving Alex a chance to either back away or give in, he leaned in too. The both of them closed their eyes at the same time and Alex felt a weird rush of energy take control of him as soon as their lips touched. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to pull away or engage in the kiss, but as soon as Jack put his hands on his hips he knew that he wanted to stay. He considered raising his hands as well, but then decided that he was thinking too much and just let it take him.  
He could hear the song from the end credits start playing on TV and he could hear Flyzik get up to embark on his usual walk around the room, but the only things that really rang through to him were Jack’s lips on his and his hands on him.

Jack finally pulled back a bit, but not for long. He took a second to look into Alex’s eyes, to see if he was okay, before pushing the other onto his back on the couch and hovering over his body. He smiled as he lowered his head and kissed the boy below him again. This time Alex raised his arms and put his hands on Jack’s upper back, pulling him down and holding him in place.  
Jack had been right when he’d said that Alex would not sleep with him if he hadn’t planned to do so in advance, so they both knew they weren’t going to take it any further; Alex wasn’t ready to do that. Yet he still allowed Jack’s hands to continue to wander when he felt them touch the bare skin of his lower abdomen. They made their way up to Alex’s chest and stayed there, until the latter pulled away and tried to sit up.  
As soon as Jack realized what Alex was trying to do he moved away, giving Alex room, afraid he’d done something wrong. But Alex smiled at him as he leaned against the armrest and pulled his knees up to his chest.  
“Wow,” he muttered.  
“You okay?”  
“Yeah, yeah. I’m great.” He ran a hand through his dark hair and nodded, “Yeah. Great.” He repeated.  
“So uhm... Tea?”  
Alex looked at him in disbelief and when he found only sincerety on the other’s face he started laughing and shook his head. “Stop it.” He shot up and pushed Jack back against the armrest as their lips met again.

 ------

Alex woke up with his head on Jack’s chest and their legs tangled together in a way that made him unsure of which where his and which weren’t. Jack was still asleep; Alex could feel him breathe on his hair.  
As carefully as he possibly could, he crawled off the other’s body and placed his feet on the ground, making sure to not step on the sleeping dog. Before he could walk away, Jack’s fingers wrapped around his wrist and his croaky voice sounded behind him, “Stay.”  
“I’m not leaving; I just have to go to the restroom real quick.”  
Jack grinned, “Promise you’ll come back?”  
“Yeah, promise.” Alex laughed and tapped Jack’s nose, “Possesive.”

When he got back, his place on the couch had been taken by Flyzik and Jack looked up with an amused expression on his face when he heard Alex walk in.  
“I have been replaced,” Alex stated, trying his hardest not to start laughing.  
“Yes, I am sorry. I have chosen my dog over you. You can leave now.”  
“What does he have that I don’t?”  
“A tail, for one.”  
Alex gave up trying not to laugh and Jack did the same as soon as he saw the mockingly serious expression on Alex’s face change to one of happiness. 

It was too late to have breakfast, so Jack suggested they go to Subway for lunch and after a short kissing session they both sorted themselves out and put on their jackets.  
Flyzik was coming with them, they’d decided. He wasn’t allowed inside, but he could wait outside and ‘snuffle some people’, as Alex had put it.  
“It’s freezing,” Jack moaned as soon as he opened the frontdoor.  
“Don’t be such a big baby, Barakat. It’s like 40 degrees.”  
“Yeah, that’s what I said: freezing.”  
The dog next to them didn’t seem to care much for the weather; he happily jumped around, sniffing the bushes as he made his way to the car. Jack and Alex walked after him, they were in no hurry; it was a Saturday after all.  
Alex opened the door to the passenger seat, but before he could sit down, Jack pulled him to him and kissed him. Alex stood with his back against the car so he couldn’t step back. But even if he had been able to move away, he didn’t think he would have.  
Jack was the first boy he’d ever kissed, and he had to admit that even though it was very different from any of the girls he’d kissed; it didn’t have anything to do with his male-ness. It was more that Jack actually knew how to kiss and guided him in the right direction, as opposed to the girls he’d kissed, who had no idea what they were doing. Truth be told, Alex didn’t either. But Jack didn’t seem to mind, going by how he hadn’t missed an opportunity to kiss him.  
“What was that for?” Alex asked with a smile when Jack finally let go of him.  
“You let me kiss you now, don’t think I’m not gonna take advantage of that.”

 ------

For about a month now Alex was feeling like he should tell Jack that he loved him, but he had no idea how. Jack hadn’t tried to say it yet either, so Alex wasn’t sure if his feelings were mutual. Jack also hadn’t tried to get him in bed, which had kind of calmed Alex down, because he didn’t feel like he was supposed to give this to Jack anymore or whatever it was that he’d felt before.  
But even though Jack wasn’t trying, Alex was starting to want to. He wasn’t exactly sure how he was supposed to make it happen as he wasn’t one to initiate something like this, but he knew that if Jack were to try and make a move now, he would go along with it. So he tried everything to make that known to Jack. He kissed him harder, let his hands wander when they were kissing and generally let the other know that he was enjoying it and that he wasn’t in a rush to stop it.

And on a Friday night –everything always seemed to happen on Friday nights with them- Jack finally got the hint.  
Instead of stopping after a while, he continued. He kept on kissing Alex, even ridding him of his shirt, and after checking if everything was okay with the boy below him, he made work of Alex’s belt. He struggled to get his skinny jeans off his legs, but with a little wiggling from Alex and a lot of laughter from the both of them, the pants were discarded onto the floor and Alex was left in his boxers.  
Jack was straddling Alex’s hips, hands on either side of the boy’s head, pinning him below him. But before he could go down to kiss Alex, the latter suddenly whispered, “Stop.”  
“Did I do something wrong?” Jack immediately shot up.  
Alex laughed, “No, but I’m not going to do this with the dog in the room.”

Jack glanced over at Flyzik, who was sitting beside the coffee table, observing them both with his head titled slightly to the right.  
“Fair point.” Jack nodded. He got up and quickly shooed the white dog into the hallway. “That better, princess?”  
“Don’t pretend you were going to do this with Flyzik in the room. That would feel like harassing him. Bestiality is not one of my kinks, Barakat.”  
Jack shrugged, “It’s illegal anyway. You know how important the law is to me.”  
“It shines through all that you do,” Alex said.  
Jack climbed back on top of him and smiled, “Now, where were we?”  
“You were about to take your shirt off,” Alex replied.  
“I don’t remember that, but I’m down for anything that includes me wearing very little clothing.” He pulled his T shirt over his head and threw it somewhere behind him and leaned back in, connecting their lips.  
Alex tilted his head back in order to reach Jack better. His hands were on the latter’s lower back so he knew Jack could feel that he was trembling.  
“You okay?” Jack mumbled against his lips.  
“Yeah,” Alex replied. He let his hands roam Jack’s bare back, his fingers tracing his spine and ribs.  
“How far do you want to take this?”

Alex had decided that he wanted to go further with Jack, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go fourth base yet. “Can we, you know...”  
“We’ll keep it down,” Jack replied, “I understand.”  
“I’m sorry, I’m just not sure if I’m ready.”  
“Don’t be sorry.” Jack kissed him roughly. His hands grabbed Alex’s wrists and yanked them away from his back to pin them against the arm rest above his head. Alex smiled against his lips, remembering what Jack had told him about tying him down.  
Jack shuffled down a bit and leaned over Alex a bit further, so that their bare chests were touching. He pushed Alex’s wrists together and held them both with one hand, so that he had his other hand free to let it wander down Alex’s torso. His fingers traced over his skin, downwards from his chest to the waistband of his boxers, paying extra attention to his nipples by circling around them for a bit before moving on. His mouth left Alex’s and travelled down to kiss his exposed neck. Alex couldn’t think; his head moved back to give Jack more space without him realising. He couldn’t help but moan at the feeling of Jack mouthing at his throat, softly kissing and biting his flushed skin.

>

Jack’s finger slipped underneath the waistband of his boxers a bit, and Jack sought eye contact with him, silently asking him for permission. Alex nodded and bit his lip. This was really happening now.  
He knew he could stop it at any moment, but he still felt like he’d already come too far to change his mind now. Not that there were any doubts on his mind anyway, he was totally up for whatever Jack would want to do with him.  
The other’s hand slipped into his boxers and Alex could feel his slightly cold fingers on him. He let out a nervous breath.  
“Okay?” Jack asked.  
Alex laughed and nodded, “God, stop asking. You’re just making me nervous.”  
“I’m sorry; I just want to make sure that you’re definitely okay with this.” He looked adorable, Alex thought, with that smile on his face and his cheeks slightly red.  
Jack was softly stroking him now, and Alex was trying really hard not to buck his hips up into his hand. With a bit of effort he wiggled his hands out of Jack’s grip and brought them down to fumble with the button of Jack’s pants. The latter grinned down at him and started stroking him faster.

“Eager, are we?”  
“Shut up.” Alex mumbled, managing to undo the button and pushing Jack’s jeans down his thighs.  
“Get those off.” He demanded.  
Jack sat up a bit and pulled his hands back to quickly rid himself of his pants. Alex was already half-hard and the loss of hands on him made him even more desperate to hurry up.  
On one hand he wanted to make this slow and special, but on the other hand he just really wanted Jack.  
He pulled Jack closer to him. They were both in their boxers now and the new skin on skin contact made Alex want more. Jack teasingly pushed his hips against Alex’s and grinned contently at the small noise that it earned him from the boy below him.

He repeated his movement a few times, until he too was half-hard and ready for more. Alex was almost fully hard at this point and all he wanted was to just get them both naked.  
“Can I...?” He pointed at Jack’s boxers and Jack nodded eagerly. His eyes followed Alex’s hands as the boy pulled down his boxers, exposing him. He got off the couch to completely step out of his boxers and immediately returned to his position on Alex’s upper legs. His hands slowly slipped Alex’s boxers down his thighs, just far enough down to expose him properly and give Jack room to move.  
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Alex’s lips before moving down, leaving a trail of kisses down his chest and stomach, until he reached his lower abdomen. Then he looked up at Alex, who was looking at him eagerly and nodded before Jack could even open his mouth to ask the question.  
As soon as Jack’s lips touched the head of his cock Alex knew he was lost. He couldn’t do anything but moan appreciatively and reach out his hands to wind them in Jack’s black and blond hair.  
Jack’s tongue licked up and down his shaft and he took the head of Alex’s member in his mouth, stroking the rest of it with his hands.

“Sorry, I haven’t done this in forever,” Jack whispered.  
“Hm,” Alex replied, unable to form a coherent reply. “Keep... Keep going.”  
Jack dipped his head back down and licked Alex’s tip, tracing the vein on the underside of his cock down to his balls before going back up and taking him back in as far as he could take him.  
Alex forced his eyes open to look down at Jack. His hand reached down to touch Jack for the first time. He slowly pumped his hand up and down, but subconsciously went faster and faster the closer he got to release himself. He ached his back, “I’m close.”  
“Not yet. Just a bit more,” Jack replied, the last part of his sentence fading into a moan that sent shivers down Alex’s spine.  
Alex knew he couldn’t keep it in much longer. His hand on Jack sped up and a few seconds later he was coming. The weak moan that he managed to choke out pulled Jack over the edge.  
They were both covered in come, Jack on his chest and Alex on his stomach. As they caught their breath Jack rolled off of Alex and pulled himself to his feet. “I’ll, like, get a towel,” He stuttered before he haltingly made his way over to the kitchen.  
“Choose one that you wouldn’t mind burning afterwards,” Alex called after him.

 ------

On Monday morning Alex woke up in Jack’s bed, with the latter’s chest pressed up against his back. From the corner of his eye he could see Flyzik lying on the rug next to the bed. The dog’s ears shot up as soon as Alex moved to get out from underneath Jack’s arm and Alex quickly shushed him before he could start barking.  
Jack’s grip on his waist tightened as he whispered, “What time is it?”  
“Where’s your clock?”  
“Probably on the other nighstand.”  
“You’ll have to let go of me then, I can’t see otherwise.”  
Jack pulled his arm back and rolled onto his stomach, putting his hands under his head.  
“Seven thirty.”

They both shot up at the same time, suddenly completely awake. School started in 45 minutes, and the drive from Jack’s house to school lasted at least 25.  
“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Where are my clothes?” Alex stomped through the room in just his boxers. The night before they’d both been a hurry to rid themselves of their clothes and neither had really bothered to check where their clothing had ended up.  
“T shirt.” Jack announced, throwing Alex’s white shirt at him.  
“Yours is under the covers, I think.” Alex replied as he pulled his shirt over his head.  
Flyzik darted away just in time to dodge the blanket being wildly thrown off the bed by Jack. 

They got dressed in record time, skipped breakfast, and reached the school building two minutes before the second bell. There was no time to pretend to have arrived at different times so they didn’t even try to hide that they had come together as they ran towards the big doors.  
Some girl sitting against the lockers with a book in her hands gave the two of them a weird look when they ran past her.

The bell rang just as Alex opened the door to his classroom. 27 teens looked up from their conversations and it became quiet. “Sorry I’m late. I overslept.”  
“Late night yesterday?” One of the kids in the back asked.  
“Sort of.” Alex said.  
He put his bag on his desk and pulled out some books. “If you didn’t do your homework now would be the time to admit so.”  
“Where you out with Jack from Music, sir?” Stella Barker asked from the front row, pulling an innocent face.  
Alex froze, “Excuse me?”  
“One of my friends saw you two arriving together.” She looked satisfied with herself, the bastard.  
“The things I do over the weekend are none of your business.” Alex replied after a short pause.  
“So it’s true? Are you two dating?” One of the other girls chipped in.  
“End of conversation. Turn to page 52.” Alex knew he was blushing, so he turned his back to the class and started writing out the exercise on the board, even though he never did that. The kids probably knew something was up, but he was holding on to not admitting it as much as he could.

 ------

“Some kids saw us arriving together this morning. All of my classes so far think we’re dating.” Jack announced when Alex walked into the teachers’ lounge during lunch.  
“Same here.” Alex replied.  
“Great. Good start of the day.” Jack got up from his chair and pulled Alex close to him by the waist. “Are we keeping it quiet?”  
Alex shrugged, “I don’t mind them knowing.”  
Jack nodded slowly, “I’d rather they don’t know.”  
“Why?”  
“Later, Alex. Later.”  
Before Alex could voice a protest Jack was kissing him and his words died in his throat.

 ------

As soon as Alex walked into the room he knew something was up. The kids were all quiet, staring at him as if they were waiting for him to say something they already knew. They managed to stay like this for exactly 47 seconds after he’d walked in; then the silence was broken by Katie. “Sir, are you going to tell us about you and Mr. Barakat?”  
Alex raised his eyebrows, “What am I supposed to tell you?”  
“Some people saw you kissing in the Teachers’ Lounge.” Another girl chipped in.  
“So everything is true then, is it? You two were together over the weekend and you’re actually dating?”  
His classes were generally quiet when he was teaching, but he’d never seen them this focussed. They were all leaning forward, wanting to hear every word he said. But the problem was: he had no idea what to say. If they had actually seen him and Jack kiss, there was no denying any of it. The only thing he could do was tell them all to back off. So he did.  
“My relationshipstatus is none of your business. Get your books, we’re done talking.”  
For the remainder of the lesson he knew no one was paying attention to what he was saying. They were all quietely whispering behind his back and every time they turned around they fell silent and pretended to be listening to him.  
When he finally gave up and told them to go do homework he felt their eyes on him as he was sitting at his desk, but he kept his eyes trained on the computer screen in front of him, not acknowledging them.  
When the bell finally rang he had to force himself to let all the students walk out the door first, before almost sprinting to his next and last class of the day. He hoped they hadn’t heard anything yet, but he doubted it.  
Things like this spread like wildfire in a school. 

His next class wasn’t planning on giving him a break either; nineteen curious faces stared at him as he walked in. It felt like it was the students versus him. The first row of desks was the only thing keeping the two parties apart.  
He kept his explanation of the new paragraph as short as he could before telling them to go do their homework and sitting down at his desk himself.  
He couldn’t wait to get out of the building.

\------ 

When he met with Jack after school he didn’t get provided with the comfort he’d expected. He didn’t get a kiss or even a hug; in fact, Jack didn’t even touch him when he shattered Alex’s heart into a thousand tiny pieces. “I think we should break it off.”  
“W-what?” After the initial shock had settled in Alex straightened his back: he was not going to cry. He was going to keep his composure.  
“The kids know, Alex. We need to break it off now, before this goes any further.”  
“Before what goes any further? Can this go any further?”  
“This... This relationship. We have to end it now that we still can.”  
“Why?”  
“Because everyone knows now.”  
“So?”  
“That makes it real.”  
“I don’t see your point.”  
“I can’t explain it. I’m sorry, Alex.”  
He finally reached his hand out to touch the other, but he simply patted him on the shoulder before quickly walking away and leaving Alex to stand alone in an empty parking lot.

\------ 

Alex could hardly remember how he ended up in his own bed. He was still fully clothed and the covers were lying somewhere by his feet, but he honestly couldn’t be bothered to do anything.  
Jack was the first guy he’d ever slept with. The first guy he’d trusted enough to share that first time with. He was starting to regret everything he and Jack had ever done. The first date. The first kiss. Everything.  
Jack was breaking up with him over and over in his head, like a video he didn’t know how to stop. He fall asleep just after 5pm, having overanalysed every word Jack had ever said to him from the moment they met.

When he woke up his legs were tangled in the sheets and the clock above his bed had stopped ticking. Alex glanced over at it; it was stuck at five forty and even though the hands were making desperate attempts to move on, they stayed stuck still.

\------ 

Over the next few days Alex’ phone went crazy. Every now and then he picked it up from its spot on the coffee table to scroll through his texts. They were mainly from Jack, but a few were from his friends and there were even a few from his parents. On Friday he texted his mom back, told her he was fine and that all was well, even though he felt bad about lying.  
He considered texting his friends back as well, but he didn’t even dare to read Jack’s texts. He didn’t want to hear an explanation or whatever it was that Jack was so desperate to say. 

On Saturday the phone rang at half past twelve in the afternoon. The grating buzzer sounded through the apartment, meaning someone downstairs wanted buzzing in. Alex didn’t even have to get up from his spot by the TV to know that it was Jack. He felt his heart sink and his chest ached with a completely new kind of pain. All that had happened was coming back to him once again and it only made him want to shut Jack out even more.  
He could almost hear Jack call his name outside, and could imagine the scene there. Jack was standing by the front door of the building; he’d probably stepped away from the door a bit to be able to see the windows of Alex’s apartment. Alex shuffled away from the window a bit, even though he knew the other wouldn’t be able to see him anyway.  
When he finally got up to glance out of the window he realised that Jack wasn’t there. Had he thought wrong? Had it been someone else?  
He went into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water with slightly shaky hands, and just as he leaned against the counter there was a knock on the front door of his apartment. He almost spilled his drink and cursed to himself. So he hadn’t been wrong.

“Hey, Alex? I know you’re in there.”  
Alex poured the water into the sink and put the glass back in the cupboard without drying it off. It took him a few minutes to decide whether he wanted to open the door or not, and he eventually told himself ‘to hell with it’.  
“What do you want?” Were the first words out of his mouth when he saw Jack’s face appear after opening the door.  
“I’m sorry.” Jack said immediately.  
“Yeah, sure.”  
“I was wrong.”  
“Cool.” He was close to just slamming the door in Jack’s face.  
“Alex, I know I deserve this, but please just hear me out.”  
“Listen; just leave me alone, alright? I’m going to come back to school, maybe next week, and I don’t want you to come anywhere near me, let alone try and talk to me.”  
“Give me a chance.”  
“Fine, tell me.”  
“Can I come in?”

Alex stepped aside reluctantly and Jack shuffled inside. His hair was wet from the rain that Alex hadn’t even noticed was falling from the sky. Stood just inside the doorway, Jack seemed small for the first time since Alex had met him.  
“Look, my last relationship didn’t end well. He was the guy I came out to my parents for. As soon as it got serious, like two weeks after I told my parents, he broke up with me. I was devastated, man. Now we were getting real, the students practically all knew. It felt too close and serious and I chickened out, I’m sorry.”  
Alex ran a hand through his hair. He was trying very hard to stay angry but he just couldn’t find it within himself.  
“Jack, you were my first real boyfriend. The first guy I ever did anything sexual with. If it was getting too ‘serious’ for anyone, it was for me.”  
“I know, I know, I acknowledge the fact that I’ve been an asshole. I’m just asking you for a chance, alright? Will you be at the talent competition this Friday?”  
Alex was confused by the change of topic. “I guess I am,” he replied carefully.  
“Cool, I’ll see you there then.”  
“Are you not coming to school this week?”  
“I am, I am. I mean, I’ll see you at school then,” he said. He shot Alex a smile and took a step back, out onto the hallway, “I’ll stop bothering you now. See you later.” He turned around and walked off. Alex watched him walk away, kind of hoping in the back of his mind that he’d turn around, but he didn’t.

\------ 

Alex was greeted back with more hospitality than he’d been when he’d first walked into this school building. That seemed like years ago, even though it had only been about seven months. The school year was coming to an end, it was the last week before finals and then summer would officially start.  
The kids seemed to care surprisingly little about why Alex had been absent. He felt the urge to tell them a few times, just to talk to someone about what had happened, but he knew the students weren’t there to listen to his stupid relationship issues, and he doubted they would actually listen anyway.

It wasn’t until third period on Tuesday morning when someone finally asked him what was up with him. It wasn’t a student though; it was Mr. Waters, the Math teacher.  
“What’s been bothering you, kid?”  
“Life,” Alex shot back, grinning.  
Mr. Waters laughed, “Sure. I suppose it’s none of my business.” He stepped a bit closer and continued to talk in a lower volume, “If this is about Barakat over there,” He motioned over to where Jack was sitting at a table, “Then I’d just like to tell you that I don’t know what he’s done, but he’s a good guy.”  
“I know,” Alex said. “It does have to do with him, but I’m giving him a second chance, I think.”  
Mr. Waters nudged him and nodded in agreement.

 ------

Alex did a pretty good job at avoiding Jack all week. He was curious as to what was so special about the talent competition that was taking place that Friday, and when he finally got his hands on the schedule for that night he eagerly read through it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  
‘You’re going to be there, yeah?’ Jack texted him Thursday night.  
‘Yes I am. What’s with all the secrecy?’  
‘Nothing, I’m just very passionate about this show.’  
‘Sure you are.’  
‘It’s mainly my students performing there, Gaskarth, am I not allowed to be proud of them?’ Alex smiled to himself when he read that. He hadn’t admitted it to Jack, but he liked when the other addressed him by his last name.  
Over the past week, Alex had realized that he liked Jack enough to bring up the courage to forgive him this fast. He loved him, he knew that now. He wanted to tell him somehow but doing so out of nowhere while they were going through a period where they hardly spoke to each other at all seemed out of place and out of line.

Friday night couldn’t come fast enough, and when it finally came around the nerves were clawing at Alex from the inside out. He was standing in the back of the hall with the other teachers, and had a good view of the stage.  
He wasn’t the only one to be nervous. The performing students were standing backstage, huddled together and trying to give each other last minute pep talks and hyping one another up. The talent competition was a big annual thing at school. It truly was an honour to be able to perform, as Jack and the school’s headmaster handpicked every performer themselves out of all of the kids auditioning in the weeks prior to the actual show.  
It was Alex’s first talent show at this school and he knew he should be paying attention, but he had a hard time bringing himself to actually care about what was happening on stage. He kept glancing over at Jack, who was stood at the side of the stage whispering instructions to the kids managing the light and the sound and even to the performers.  
“Are you okay over there, Alex? You seem tense.”  
“I am doing fantastic, thank you,” Alex replied without bothering to look up to see who was even talking to him.  
The last girl to get up on stage sang I Miss You by Blink-182, and the lyrics eased his nerves a bit. He’d listened to this song over and over when he was a teenager, but for the first time he could understand the lyrics.  
It was during the bridge of that song that Jack finally glanced over at Alex for the first time that evening. He even shot him a mischievous smile, confirming to Alex that he was definitely up to no good.

He was finally rewarded for his patience after the last girl had left the stage. Jack hopped on without using the steps in a display of athletic ability that somehow didn’t surprise Alex and grabbed the mic.  
“Hi guys, I hope you’ve had a fantastic night tonight, I know I have. I would like to thank the amazing students who’ve performed for you all tonight; to me they’re all winners.” He paused for a few seconds and waited till the applause died down, “Before we go on to announce the winners, I would like to play my favourite song for you all, so the judges can have a quick talk.” He walked over to the side of the stage, where he got handed a guitar by someone backstage.  
Alex immediately recognised that guitar. It was the one in the back of Jack’s guitar room. The black one. The one he’d never played before because he’d been waiting for the right moment.  
“This song’s called With Me, by Sum 41. It’s for a special person who I’ve treated badly because I made a stupid mistake. I think most students in this room know who I’m talking about.”  
All eyes were on Alex for a few seconds and he smiled awkwardly. The students had known about them before they’d even known about it themselves.  
A student ran over to Jack to put a stool behind the mic. Jack nodded at him and sat down, guitar on his lap. “This is for you,” he said, looking straight at Alex.

I don't want this moment to ever end,  
Where everything's nothing without you.  
I'd wait here forever just to, to see you smile,  
'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you.

Through it all, I've made my mistakes.  
I stumble and fall, but I mean these words.

I want you to know,  
With everything I won't let this go.  
These words are my heart and soul.  
I'll hold on to this moment, you know,  
As I bleed my heart out to show,  
And I won't let go.

Thoughts read, unspoken, forever in vow,  
And pieces of memories fall to the ground.  
I know what I didn't have, so I won't let this go,  
'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you.

All the streets, where I walked alone,  
With nowhere to go, have come to an end.

I want you to know,  
With everything I won't let this go.  
These words are my heart and soul.  
I'll hold on to this moment, you know,  
As I bleed my heart out to show,  
And I won't let go.

In front of your eyes, it falls from the skies,  
When you don't know what you're looking to find.  
In front of your eyes, it falls from the skies,  
When you just never know what you will find.

I don't want this moment to ever end,  
Where everything's nothing without you.

I want you to know,  
With everything I won't let this go.  
These words are my heart and soul.  
I'll hold on to this moment, you know,  
As I bleed my heart out to show,  
And I won't let go.

I want you to know,  
With everything I won't let this go.  
These words are my heart and soul.  
I'll hold on to this moment, you know,  
As I bleed my heart out to show,  
And I won't let go.

Alex wasn’t sure how to react when the song finished. His heart was leaping in his chest and all he really wanted was to step forward, hug Jack, and tell him all was forgiven. He hadn’t wanted to make it this easy and make it seem like he could be messed around with.  
So he waited till the curtains closed and Jack came walking over to the group of teachers in the back, black guitar still in his right hand. His left hand was working on getting the tiny microphone of his shirt, that had been stuck there with a piece of tape.

“Let me help you out with that.” Alex muttered under his breath. He carefully pulled the mic off Jack’s shirt, making sure he didn’t break it in the process.  
“Thanks.” Jack said. They were standing close now.  
Close enough, Alex decided as he grabbed a fistful of Jack’s shirt and pulled him down. Jack understood his intentions immediately and their lips met somewhere in the middle.  
“I hope you’re happy.” Alex whispered, mockingly accusing.  
“I am. I’m very happy. I just hope you are too.”  
“I am too.” Alex said immediately. Was he happy? He wasn’t exactly sure, but right now he definitely was.

Alex found himself lying on Jack’s bed with Jack’s arms around him a few hours later. Their sweaty bodies were pressed together even though it was actually too hot in the room to lie so close.  
And despite what had happened Alex thought back to what Jack had asked him half an hour ago with a smile. It had been rushed, in the heat of the moment Jack had suddenly asked him, “Does this mean we’re together again?”  
And Alex had said yes.  
He knew now, he had understood. “I love you.” He whispered. He didn’t have to turn around to look at Jack’s face to know that the latter was smiling when he replied, “I love you too.”  
Now that Alex had had time to think he realized that yes, he was happy. He was very happy.


End file.
